You know I turned off my TV – about three years ago – it seemed like the vast majority of images, stories, people they showed me were making me lose hope in the future. The lens of a camera distorts reality, and if you point it just right, edit it just so, you can make the world seem like a very dark place. My heart was heavy trying to process all of that.

So I turned it off.

This People Story Network project has restored my faith in the future. People like Marty are restoring my faith in the future.

Marty impressed me from the very start. There’s a clarity to his eyes, a confidence in his stance, and a firmness in his handshake that gave me the impression this was a man that was no stranger to hard work. He seemed like kind of a quiet guy, but when he speaks it’s with confidence… what he says means something.

It’s hard to put into words really. I’ll just have to leave it at this: When I met him, when I talked to him, I thought that there are more guys like him than what we see on TV in the world – and we’re going to be ok.

Marty works at the tire store right now. He works long hours, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He’s newly married and has a four month old son who my wife simply did not want to let go of…

He loves where he lives in Idaho, and wants to stay there. Small towns fit him well it seems.

He’s studying to get his drilling license so he can join his brother in the family business. They drill wells for people in this part of Idaho, and once he’s drilled 12 wells, and passes a difficult test, he’ll have his drillers license. Then he plans to work with the drilling business full-time. The energy of the conversation tells me this is a man that has a plan – and he’s looking forward to a bright future.

TV and Madison Avenue tell us that we should want fast cars and big houses and boats on the lake. We should run out and do whatever it takes so we can have these things. But Marty sees a future that is true to him, true to the person he’s comfortable being. Living in a small town, raising a family that he loves and that loves him, and providing a necessary service for those that live around him at a fair price.

In my book, that’s good guy. The future of our world might be just fine after all.